Good Things Come In Nano Packages

IBM has really been on a roll this year. They've been working on ways to improve thermal efficiency of microchips, ways for blind users to have better control of online content, and now InformationWeek claims IBM is going to announce a type of MRI device that can actually see nanoscale objects.

"Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center have found a way to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to see nanoscale objects. Dan Rugar, manager of nanoscale studies at the research center, said the discovery represents "a milestone that has shown that the principles of MRI can be married with scanning microscopy."

While the eventual goal -- building a microscope than can see individual atoms in three dimensions -- remains "a number of years away," Rugar said that extending MRI technology into the nanoscale realm is a “significant achievement."